David Watford admits he's mentally put himself in Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota's shoes. As a quarterback, it's hard not to envision what you might be able to do in an offense as frenetic as Oregon's.

That's not to say Watford doesn't have faith in the offense he's running at Virginia, which hosts No. 2 Oregon at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Though U.Va. didn't resemble anything close to Oregon's super-charged offensive attack last Saturday in the Cavaliers' 19-16 win against Brigham Young, Watford believes the best is yet to come.

"Every kid's dream coming out of high school is you want to run an offense like that," said Watford, a Hampton High graduate, regarding Oregon's spread offense that features a read-option scheme. "They put points on the board. They score. They do a lot of things. They make big plays, but we can do that as well. We can put a lot of points on the board. We can score. We've got a lot of playmakers, fast guys. We have speed just as well as they have speed. We can do the same exact thing as they do."

Watford's expectations for a U.Va. pro-style offense are lofty considering it struggled to cross midfield against BYU. In his first career start, Watford led U.Va. (1-0) into BYU territory just five times in 18 possessions, completing 18 of 32 passes for 114 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the process. U.Va. punted 13 times, one boot away from the school record.

Other than that goal is the same, there isn't much commonality in Oregon's offense and U.Va.'s offense.

In its 66-3 win last weekend against Football Championship Subdivision opponent Nicholls State, Oregon put up 772 yards and averaged 16.7 seconds between plays. U.Va. played a more talented opponent, but its 223 yards were indicative of an offense still trying to find its bearings. Varying philosophy and horrible weather conditions have to be taken into account, but U.Va averaged 27.7 seconds between plays against BYU.

Moving the ball through the air was a chore for Watford. U.Va. had two drives in which Watford completed more than two straight passes, and the Cavaliers posted just three points on those two drives.

"I like some things David did," U.Va. offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild said. "We certainly weren't consistent in the passing game, but as we practice and get to know each other, I think we're going to time that out and get better each week as we go."

Now, U.Va. faces an Oregon defense that rightfully takes a backseat to its far more flashy brethren on the offensive side. Oregon (1-0) has seven starters back from a unit that was 44th in total defense (374.2 yards per game) last season and only 56th in pass defense (229.2 yards per game), but led the nation in a category that caught Watford's attention — turnovers gained.

"Their defense doesn't get as much credit as I think they should," said Watford, who has thrown four touchdowns and five interceptions in his 11-game career. "Their offense kind of overshadows their defense, but their defense does a hell of a job out there. They were number one in turnovers. They (forced) 40 turnovers last season. They just put the offenses that they face in tough situations."

Fairchild has some experience going against Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti. Fairchild was the quarterbacks coach at Colorado State when Aliotti had his first stint as Oregon's defensive coordinator in the 1993 and '94 seasons. In his second go-round as Oregon's defensive coordinator, Aliotti has held the role since '99.

Fairchild hasn't shared many notes with Watford on what he saw from Aliotti's defense in the mid-90s. Fairchild said Aliotti's philosophy has evolved since those days, which is similar to most coaches, but Fairchild said Oregon's reputation for speed isn't exclusive to the offense.

"They're impressive," said Fairchild, who added Oregon's cornerbacks take chances and often try to jump routes. "Everybody comments how fast they are offensively, which I'm sure they are, but they're very, very fast defensively."

During the two-hour weather delay last Saturday against BYU, Watford said the time he didn't spend napping was used to pick Fairchild's brain over what he'd seen from the Cougars in the early stages of the game.

As a neophyte in the starting role, Watford is still in a gathering stage of his career. Putting all the information and concepts to good use on the field will come as he gains experience.

"I feel like we still have a lot that we have up our sleeves that we can use," Watford said. "Coach Fairchild is constantly coming up with difference stuff every day. Every practice we're putting in something new, and we stick with what we like."

After waiting for two years, including sitting through a post-freshman season redshirt year, Hampton High graduate David Watford is finally going to get his chance to be Virginia’s starting quarterback.

As trainers carted Jerry Ugokwe off the Unitas Stadium field last November, William and Mary football coach Jimmye Laycock couldn't avoid the thought: His team's entire starting offensive line, a group with so much promise and youth, was wiped out by injury.